Picture Perfect Kiger Mustang

[lindad]

Dianne,
Brag away girl, because Cedar gives you the absolute right to do so! She is a premier mare for sure, and a proven to be worth her weight in gold! She would be my pick for shinning example of what a Kiger mare should look like.
Chinnook is a prime example of the Andalusian type Kiger if anyone has not had the pleasure you must see him. I have a huge love of black horses, and to have black with dun genes is awesome in my opinion. My guess is he is dun in the darkest phase, rather like a panther.

Linda D

[lindad]

Jillian,
Great input! KHAR has done some wonderful things, and this is one of them! Thanks for the time spent!
Linda D

[DianneC]

Linda,
Funny you should mention panther. There was one on TV the other night and you can see its darker spots even though it is black. Hey! Just like a dark grulla I thought. Thanks for the nice words. I sure like them.

[nrly]

who set the standards, were they a colaberation of several people who have nothing to gain. or from people who have everything to gain if some horses do not meet the standard.
nola

[desperatehorsewife]

She is estimated at two years old and don't know if that means she will be three in spring or fall or what yet!

It means she was born in 2005, and technically will be a three year old this year. You could probably be safe in assuming it was a summer birth...at least you wouldn't be off by more than a few months that way, eh?

I adopted a two year old this past June and while all my other adoptees had the approx. age listed at capture (8-12 months, 10-12 months), Jet only had yearling listed on hers, so I'm assuming they just couldn't tell, or she was obviously past her first birthday so that's all that got recorded at capture. Makes it hard when you're trying to figure out just when they're safe to take on a workload

[nrly]

yes it is, how old are they when you start them under saddle. Stormy was close to 4 when i started her, but nobody rode her till she was 4 I wanted bones to be in a better shape,closed or what ever. She turns 6 this year.
nola

[desperatehorsewife]

Growth plates has been a big, lively discussion on one of the lists. I asked my vet about growth plates last week as I'd like to do a long ride with my filly, who'll be four by then. He said growth plates close up between 36 and 42 months, and that the real damage is done to two year olds who get over worked. I know that flies in the face of what a lot of people will say, but after doing a lot of my own reading, I'd have to agree that working a three or four year old isn't going to do a lot of damage unless the horse is already prone to injuries.

From what I read, there's a big difference in what the joints in the legs (knees, stifle, etc) can handle and the back. Since the legs close up first, I'm betting my vet is right.

I know everyone will have their own opinion, and that's fine, but I start riding my horses at 2. Not a lot, not hard. Sometimes it's just a few rides, sometimes it's 3 or 4 times a week for 20 minutes. I've never had one 'break down'. I figure by next year my four year old will be ready to go if I've properly built her up this year. Hoping the Kiger can come along, too.

[Michelle Clarke]

FYI: this is just from the physical aspect....the mental and emotional development of a horse is pretty equivalent to skeletal growth. Horses are very imature at the ages of 2 and even 3. They go through so much mental fitness around the age of four that there is no comparison in the training!


The Schedule of Growth-Plate Conversion to Bone

The process of converting the growth plates to bone goes from the bottom of the animal up. In other words, the lower down toward the hoofs you look, the earlier the growth plates will have fused; and the higher up toward the animal's back you look, the later. The growth plate at the top of the coffin bone (the most distal bone of the limb) is fused at birth. What that means is that the coffin bones get no taller after birth (they get much larger around, though, by another mechanism). That's the first one. In order after that:

* Short pastern - top and bottom between birth and 6 months.
* Long pastern - top and bottom between 6 months and one year.
* Cannon bone - top and bottom between 8 months and 1.5 years
* Small bones of the knee - top and bottom of each, between 1.5 and 2.5 years
* Bottom of radius-ulna - between 2 and 2.5 years
* Weight-bearing portion of glenoid notch at top of radius - between 2.5 and 3 years
* Humerus - top and bottom, between 3 and 3.5 years
* Scapula - glenoid or bottom (weight-bearing) portion – between 3.5 and 4 years
* Hindlimb - lower portions same as forelimb
* Hock - this joint is "late" for as low down as it is; growth plates on the tibial and fibular tarsals don't fuse until the animal is four (so the hocks are a known "weak point" - even the 18th-century literature warns against driving young horses in plow or other deep or sticky footing, or jumping them up into a heavy load, for danger of spraining their hocks).
* Tibia - top and bottom, between 3 and 3.5 years
* Femur - bottom, between 3 and 3.5 years; neck, between 2.5 and 3 years; major and 3rd trochanters, between 2.5 and 3 years
* Pelvis - growth plates on the points of hip, peak of croup (tubera sacrale), and points of buttock (tuber ischii), between 3 and 4 years.

And what do you think is last? The vertebral column, of course. A normal horse has 32 vertebrae between the back of the skull and the root of the dock, and there are several growth plates on each one, the most important of which is the one capping the centrum. These do not fuse until the horse is at least 5 1/2 years old (and this figure applies to a small-sized, scrubby, range-raised mare. The taller your horse and the longer its neck, the later the last fusions will occur. And for a male - is this a surprise? - you add six months. So, for example, a 17-hand Thoroughbred or Saddlebred or Warmblood gelding may not be fully mature until his 8th year - something that owners of such individuals have often told me that they "suspected").

[desperatehorsewife]

True enough that you can burn a horse out mentally much more easily than physically. That's why it's good to have a variety of stimulants and not stick to just one thing. When I used to raise goldens, my obedience trainer told me I ought to go to the once a week agility nights just to take my dog's mind off the typical sit stay stuff. Same is true with horses.

[DianneC]

How is Montanesa doing Michelle?

[Michelle Clarke]

Nesa is doing well. She is much more bossy than we ever thought she would be. In the pens at the adoption, she did not pick on anyone, never laid an ear back or looked snarley. She has taken to pushing Mari around and taking advantage of her slowing down being pregnant. We have had them seperate for awhile to work on them more. When I go into Maris' pen, she always walks toward me. When I go in Nesas' pen, she still snorts and starts to run around like a jack rabbit. I have been able to rub all over her head and down her neck when she comes to eat out of the bucket, but she quickly reverts back to acting nervous. She definately wants to make the rules.

I tried to introduce her to another mare, but she immediately took over and chased her around hard. We are having a cold snap right now, but once the nasty weather clears up, I have a "new" friend for her that will hopefully straighten her out. I think that will help her look at me a little different too, as it will knock her confidence down some.